Luton Bute Street railway station was the first to be built in
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...
, England. It was opened by the
Luton, Dunstable and Welwyn Junction Railway Company in 1858, which was an extension of the Welwyn and Hertford Railway. The track to Welwyn was completed in 1860 and taken over by the
Great Northern the following year.
History
The station was valuable to Luton people not only for passengers but also for facilitating the London market for the town's trade in
plaited straw goods. The station, and the line to Welwyn, closed in 1965.
[Radford, B., (1983) ''Midland Line Memories: a Pictorial History of the Midland Railway Main Line Between London (St Pancras) & Derby'' London: Bloomsbury Books]
Following closure to passengers in 1965, the station buildings were quickly demolished despite the line remaining open for freight until 1989–1990. The site of the station was used later as a car park for Luton railway station. Throughout the years, various local pressure groups have been supportive of reopening the station as part of a viable branch line between Dunstable and Luton. In the mid-1990s, there was a debate about reopening it, either with the operation of diesel
Class 158s or electric
Class 319s.
The site has since been redeveloped, as the new Luton Gateway transport interchange on the
Luton to Dunstable Busway
The Luton-Dunstable Busway is a guided busway system in Bedfordshire, England, which connects the towns of Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Luton with Luton Airport. It was built on the route of a disused railway track and opened in September 2013 ...
guided busway
Guided buses are buses capable of being steered by external means, usually on a dedicated track or roll way that excludes other traffic, permitting the maintenance of schedules even during rush hours. Unlike trolleybuses or rubber-tired trams ...
system.
Routes
See also
*
List of closed railway stations in Britain
References
External links
Station history and photosLuton Borough Council guided busway plans
Buildings and structures in Luton
Disused railway stations in Bedfordshire
Former Great Northern Railway stations
Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 1858
Railway stations in Great Britain closed in 1965
Transport in Luton/Dunstable Urban Area
Beeching closures in England
1858 establishments in England
1965 disestablishments in England
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